Are You Really Ready for Mediation?
Who will attend the mediation? This should include the person who holds and can modify the authority. That’s the person holding the purse strings on the defense side and important advisors to the claimant, such as a spouse or adult child.
Telephone standby is not good enough. The person on standby is not getting the real sense of what is transpiring. Getting an explanation through an attorney filter can result in a distorted message. This is especially true if the attorney is wary of being removed from the case. Remote mediation allows participation regardless of a person’s geographic location and also allows productive use of the inevitable downtime.
Have you prepared your client/insured? Does that person understand how mediation differs from a court proceeding? Will this participant be comfortable with remote mediation technology? Have you reviewed your strategy and obtained settlement authority?
Have you thoroughly prepared, preferably by steelmanning?
Did you submit your mediation brief in plenty of time for the mediator to read and consider the explanation of your position?
When all the components are in place, you are most likely to achieve the best possible settlement.